The move by Kenneth Frazier, one of corporate America’s leading African American executives, came after President Trump was criticized for not explicitly condemning white supremacists after violent clashes with counter-protestors turned deadly in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday.

Many on Twitter noted that Trump responded more quickly and specifically to Frazier’s resignation than he did to the violence in Charlottesville.

Frazier, citing a “matter of personal conscience,” said he felt “a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism” in the wake of the violence in Charlottesville and Trump’s failure to quickly and explicitly condemn the white supremacists who organized the rally.

Just a month ago, President Trump invited Merck chief executive Kenneth C. Frazier to the White House, calling him one of the “great, great leaders of business in this country.”

CBS News -

CEOs on White House boards stay mum on stepping down after Charlottesville

More than two dozen executives from some of the country's most prominent corporations serve on President Trump's business and manufacturing advisory councils – and so far, Merck & Co. CEO Ken Frazier is the only one to resign in the wake of Mr. Trump's response to the weekend's deadly white supremacist protests in Charlottesville.

On Monday morning, however, Mr. Trump delivered more pointed remarks, saying that "those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans."

Trump condemns racist groups for deadly Virginia violence after days of criticism for failing to do so

President Trump on Monday answered two days of bipartisan furor over his initial response to deadly protests in Charlottesville, Va., with a new statement for the first time explicitly blaming white supremacists for the “racist violence” over the weekend.

Criticism and outrage had continued to build, including among Republicans, to Trump’s Saturday remarks blaming “many sides” — in effect lumping together the anti-racism counter-protesters with the gun-wielding white supremacy groups Trump declined to name.

New York Times -

Merck’s Leader Took a Stand. What About the Other C.E.O.s?

Indeed, Mr. Trump’s vitriol against Mr. Frazier and Merck — a company that depends on the government as a buyer for many of its drugs — will perhaps have an even greater chilling effect on other C.E.O.s who may consider speaking out.

Other C.E.O.s, like Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, have contended that they consider it part of their patriotic duty to remain on the president’s business council, even when they disagree with things Mr. Trump says or does.

As chief executive of the Trump campaign, he reportedly encouraged Trump to portray rival Hillary Clinton as part of a global conspiracy made up of the political, financial and media elite, a message that many felt carried antisemitic overtones.

In Devil’s Bargain, a book about his role in the Trump campaign, Bannon is quoted as saying that attempts by Clinton to tie Trump to the “alt-right” and nationalists did not worry voters. “We polled the race stuff and it doesn’t matter,” Bannon said, according to the book.

New York Times -

Trump, Saying ‘Racism Is Evil,’ Condemns Violence in Charlottesville

President Donald Trump bowed to overwhelming pressure that he personally condemn white supremacists who incited bloody demonstrations in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend — labeling their racists views “evil” after two days of equivocal statements. “Racism is evil,” Mr. Trump said.

Several of the president’s top advisers, including his new Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, pressed Mr. Trump to issue a more forceful rebuke after his comment on Saturday that the violence in Charlottesville was initiated by “many sides,” prompting nearly universal criticism.

One of the US’s most high-profile African American executives has quit Donald Trump’s business advisory panel, citing “a responsibility to take a stand against violence and extremism”.

The remaining members on the council include Mary Barra, chief executive of General Motors; Jamie Dimon, chairman of JP Morgan; Indra Nooyi, chair and chief executive of Pepsi; Ginni Rometty, chief executive of IBM; and Steven Schwarzman, chief executive of Blackstone.

ABC News -

The Note: Trump’s silence on white nationalism is deafening

"We have no tolerance for hate and violence from white supremacists, neo-Nazis or the KKK." -- Vice President Mike Pence. Scaramucci: Bannon's "toleration" of white nationalism is "inexcusable."

The White House over the weekend said the president condemned all forms of bigotry, which obviously included white supremacy and neo-Nazism. Words matter and many Americans only heard resounding silence and vagueness from their commander in chief.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organisation, says that "Trump's run for office electrified the radical right, which saw in him a champion of the idea that America is fundamentally a white man's country."

The White House has defended President Donald Trump's reaction to deadly violence over a white supremacist rally in Virginia, amid criticism he did not explicitly condemn far-right groups.

Global News -

Why has Charlottesville been the location of several white nationalist rallies?

WATCH: ‘Unite the Right’ rally organizer says Charlottesville police refused to do their job. While the city doesn’t have a long history of white nationalist uprisings, the events of August 12 mark the third rally of this kind to take place in Charlottesville since city council announced the removal of the statue of Confederate Civil War general Robert E. Lee from Emancipation park in May.

WATCH: CIA chief says Donald Trump’s remarks on Charlottesville was ‘very clear’. One expert from the Southern Poverty Law centre, Heidi Beirich, told CNN that white nationalists are likely drawn to Charlottesville because past rallies have been so successful.

Vice President Pence begins a week-long trip Sunday to Latin America amid continuing political turmoil in Venezuela and President Trump saying he wouldn’t rule out a "military option" in response to the actions of Venezuela leader Nicolás Maduro.

The administration has been putting pressure on Colombia to curb the flow of drugs into the U.S., and Colombia has stepped up its forced eradication program and increased seizures of cocaine.

Trying to discern how much of North Korea's threatening language is backed up by genuine military capability is, in large part, the mandate of CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who sat down on Sunday with CBS News in Washington to discuss that, and the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

When we come back in a minute, we'll take a closer look at the president's response to the clashes in Charlottesville yesterday.

Trump’s national security adviser says U.S. no closer to war with North Korea than a week ago

National security adviser H.R. McMaster on Sunday defended President Trump’s escalating rhetoric directed at North Korea and said that he does not believe that the United States is any closer to war than it was a week ago.

“I think we’re not closer to war than a week ago, but we are closer to war than we were a decade ago,” McMaster told host George Stephanopoulos. “This has been a problem that we’ve procrastinated on for a long period of time, but now it’s coming to a head, where the threat from North Korea not only to the United States but to the world, is very, very clear, and it demands a concerted effort from the United States, but with our allies, and with all responsible nations,” he added.

LA Times -

Please, President Trump, take a real vacation

You may be the only president who ever managed to look resentful about taking your vacation — a pause you insist was required solely because the West Wing is getting a new heating system.

Decades of academic studies have shown that workers are more productive when they get time off — real time off — for several weeks a year. Henry Ford, not a slacker, was one of the first industrialists to realize that giving employees breaks could make them more effective.

The woes of this car-less worker can't be fixed with junkers or leasing schemes

It’s unfortunate you bought two junkers in a row, because the amount you ultimately spent could have bought you one decent car.

I know we can petition the court and be allowed to get financing, but we do not want to and can’t afford to on our budget. My spouse has the reliable car, but I’ve already paid $1,500 cash each for two junkers and it’s caused major stress.

Washington Post -

Who is Kim Jong Un and what will he decide to do?

If North Korea goes ahead with its threat to fire ballistic missiles toward the U.S. territory of Guam, the order will come from Kim Jong Un himself.

When he was 12, in 1996, Kim started school in Bern, the Swiss capital, and lived with his aunt and uncle and his older brother Kim Jong Chol in an ordinary apartment.

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged President Trump to exercise restraint over tensions with North Korea during a phone call Friday night, Chinese state media reported.

In his phone call with Trump, Xi said China hoped the parties concerned would exercise restraint and refrain from taking any action that will aggravate tensions on the peninsula, according to CGTN. Dialogue, negotiations and a political settlement are the fundamental ways of solving the Korean Peninsula’s nuclear issue, Xi said during the call, which took place Saturday Beijing time.

LA Times -

Trump's D.C. hotel turns an unexpected profit. Gee, how did that happen?

The Washington Post reports that the Trump International Hotel, just down Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, turned a $2.1 million profit over the first four months of 2017 – defying expectations of a $2 million loss.

While the nation watches President Trump's tweets, his “locked and loaded” threats to North Korea, and his needling of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell over the GOP failure to repeal and replace Obamacare (Jeff Sessions must be relieved), a curious thing has happened.

Calls for more intense diplomacy on North Korea vied Friday with threats of force, with little sense of what strategy would prevail in Washington or Pyongyang or which leader would blink first.

Asked whether he and the president were on the same page, Tillerson, who has emphasized a diplomatic solution to the North Korea crisis, said, “Totally.” He said that the United States was preparing “very, very strong” additional sanctions against Pyongyang, following last Saturday’s unanimous U.N. Security Council passage of a harsh sanctions package.

NBC News -

North Korea Crisis: How actions have unfolded under Trump

The defiant stance has led Trump to ratchet up the rhetoric — promising to show North Korea "fire and fury" if it continues on a perilous path with even more missile tests.

Aug. 11: Trump continues his heated rhetoric against North Korea, tweeting that, "Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely.

President Trump said Friday "I think you know the answer to that" when a reporter asked him in Bedminster, New Jersey whether the U.S. is going to war with North Korea. "When you say 'bad solution' are you talking about war?

Is the U.S. going to go to war?" the reporter asked Mr. Trump, after the president floated the possibility of a "bad solution" in North Korea.

Washington Post -

Despite Trump’s threats to North Korea, the U.S. military doesn’t appear to be on a new wartime footing

The U.S. military does not appear to be moving toward a wartime footing with North Korea despite President Trump’s repeated threats this week of military action against Pyongyang, with few if any additional military forces moving into the region and the Pentagon chief emphasizing diplomacy over bloodshed.

Patrick Cronin, the senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, said that despite Trump’s rhetoric, he doesn’t see a major shift in U.S. policy toward North Korea.

Trump says U.S. military is 'locked and loaded' should North Korea 'act unwisely'

President Trump capped a week of charged rhetoric aimed at North Korea on Friday with a more precise threat of force, tweeting, "military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely."

In addition to the "locked and loaded" tweet, Trump also retweeted one from the U.S. Pacific Command with pictures of fighter jets and the statement that "Lancer #bombers on Guam stand ready.”

NBC News -

U.S. and China trade spat roils foil imports

As the U.S. and China go toe-to-toe in a trade spat, the fight has found its way into American kitchens and impacts a common household item: aluminum foil.

The Ministry of Commerce posted a statement on their website saying, “China urges the U.S. to act cautiously and make a fair decision to avoid any negative impact on the normal economic and trade exchanges between China and the U.S.”. Twelve major Chinese aluminum exporters and the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association plan on filing a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission.